After the brief, miserable attempt with shelter kittens, I am left exhausted and struggling to regain a normal schedule. I had no idea those few days would throw me off so badly. I'm even having trouble looking at pictures of kittens that make up 50% of any given Facebook wall. It will get better, but right now I'm going to focus my energy where I am comfortable.
It appears that all the animals took advantage of me, while I was distracted this week. This morning I woke to find nearly every single green tomato nibbled, but only partly. It was like finding a fancy box of mixed chocolates, after someone went searching for something good and only found the despised orange cremes. Once again, some little prankster left a stolen fruit where I would see it, bold evidence of the crime. That, or they witnessed me yesterday, when I placed a ripe tomato on the deck rail to photograph it. It is possible this was a piece of fan art. I don't know who it is who keeps eating all of my fruits and vegetables. I suppose the peaches went to squirrels, but during the day they seem far more interested in sunflower seeds than tomatoes or squash blossoms. I doubt birds are the problem, and I know rabbits are not climbing up the containers and cages. I'm left with mice, rats, or other burrowing rodents like voles as my suspects. The neighbor has told me on several occasions about rodents under her shed, and there are absolutely tons of golf ball sized holes in the ground on that side of the park. (There are also dozens of mounds from mole tunnels on the other side of the Park, and I had to do a little research to get it straight in my head who does what, moles versus voles. I am in danger of turning into Carl Spackler, straight out of Caddyshack, if I can't get a handle on these guys.) I have heard before that I will have to wrap my plants if I want to get any of the fruits and vegetables. That may be next on the agenda, figuring out what that entails.
Last night, as it was just becoming too dark to see clearly outside, my black cat went racing over to the window by the fireplace, drawing my attention to someone thrashing in the hydrangea and holly bushes. I was able to discern the outline of a large dog moving energetically on the wrong side of a wire edging fence. I'm not sure why I bother putting the fence borders in. The dogs never respect the marked boundaries. I pulled both of the knuckleheads inside, and went out with a flashlight, wondering what the hell they had been trying to kill. I never figured it out. This morning I discovered how epic the battle had been, with a visible hole in the once-lush hydrangea, and along the fence all of my giant ferns were trampled. I am starting to wonder whether the sonic methods of pest control would be safe to use around dogs and cats. It would be a whole lot easier than wrapping every plant in the Park, à la Christo.
I vote solidly in favor of Christo.
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